Campaign Theater

[Ryan F]

Good morning everyone, I think I can give you some partial answers in regards to your question about being able to access Hero Lab Online from multiple devices for use to share with your family and playgroup.

We do have this idea on our list of items for future enhancement, to enable more than just a single Internet Browser on a single device to be logged in, but as Joe noted earlier there are some groundwork tasks that are needed to be completed before we are able to get there.

Ideally, we want to open up a new type of License/Account for the service, a family/group License of sorts that will empower you all upgrade to an account type that can allow concurrent device login for multiple users. There are some logistical, technical, and IP hurdles and challenges which we need to have addressed in regard to making sure that this is done safely, securely, and with respect to all of our partners who license their RPG systems with us. The precise way in which this works, as well as the legal bits and final terms which will evolve alongside these features, are still being worked on, so as you might expect we still do not have an ETA on when these plans might come to fruition yet. The final form of how all this should work isn't something that is 100% nailed to the wall yet, but rest assured that we are keeping this kind of usage in mind for when the system is ready for concurrent user support.

Some of you might recall that we announced we will be adding a pathway for people with Hero Lab Classic Content to "Migrate" their Content to Hero Lab Online at a later date, this is still part of the general roadmap plan, and along with that we are looking at the best way to ensure that the Secondary License permissions will also end up being transferred to the Online system. The content migration product itself if another aspect of Hero Lab Online that, sadly, hasn't seen the light of day yet in terms of public release as the Campaign Theater and concurrent user support is something which ties directly into our hopes for this type of migration and RPG support.

All this to say, we still have the work ahead of us on this task. The feedback in regard to what you all want out of the service has served all of us very well over the years and we really are excited to start dropping some of the bigger pieces and components into Hero Lab Online which will help make our plans possible.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

 

[Frodie]

Just a quick question. Is Campaign Theater a VTT? Just want to know before I get another VTT system.

 

[Joe]

Just a quick question. Is Campaign Theater a VTT? Just want to know before I get another VTT system.

Strictly speaking: No. A major part of many (most?) VTTs is a shared map view of some kind. We have no plans to implement such a feature at this time. There are already great VTTs out there for this, and making our own map feature would be (very) time-intensive. We don't think we'd be adding much value in that area, given our area of expertise is character mechanics. Having built our foundation for campaigns gives us a platform on which we hope to begin integrating with VTTs. That's obviously a big project that we'll talk more about once the dust from releasing Campaigns begins to settle.

In a looser sense, my answer is "Sorta". Initially Campaigns will just be a shared space where everyone can SEE the state of each other's characters, but not interact through the app (if I cast a spell on you, you have to apply the damage to yourself, etc). That's already a major improvement over what we have today, but the roadmap for Campaigns takes it further, allowing characters to target one another with attacks, abilities, and so on in an interactive way. This is an area many VTTs currently operate in, but we've always felt as though there's a disconnect between character creation, character mechanics, and interaction at the table. We're hoping that seamless integration of our character building and mechanics with player interactivity brings something new and valuable "to the table" (no pun intended. OK maybe a little.)

 

[Frodie]

Ok, cool. Thank you for the info.

 

[Shadowfoot]

Thanks Ryan,
That's good for setting our expectations, especially about timing.

 

[Frodie]

Ok, I got a vtt and HLO, but what features does CT have that other vtt do not? I am sure I will get CT when it comes out, but not sure how to incorporate it with the vtt we are using.

 

[Tarmor]

The Campaign Theater is not a VTT.

 

[flyteach]

Ok, I got a vtt and HLO, but what features does CT have that other vtt do not? I am sure I will get CT when it comes out, but not sure how to incorporate it with the vtt we are using.

@Frodie, I'm struggling with this also. I've read thru the doc about a dozen times now and messed around the "theatre". What I'm coming up with is this, and I invite anyone to be specific about what I'm missing, cuz it's prolly quite a bit.
If you have a VTT, then I don't see that CT (or even HLO for that matter) bring anything to the table (screen). The VTTs do a good job of tracking material, damage, spells, etc.
If you're at an in person table, then CT appears to be a high powered initiative tracker. It's got more info, but that's all it is: info. There's very little to no interaction thru the interface.....essentially view only.
There's a lot of potential, but at this time it seems pretty bare bones. That seems intentional, but it's hard to see where LWD is going with this. Things that are broken for basic character use at the table (tracking ammo for instance) are just magnified when working thru CT because it's not managing anything either.
I've got to experiment some more, there might be a hint of encounter builder in here too, but I need more time to investigate.

 

[Tonyx]

Is there a plan to actually incorporate a VTT into Theater Mode?
Because so far... I really can't see a use case for it.

 

[cerkit]

All this and STILL no way to export/import characters between accounts

I personally think this is a waste of development time. This doesn't add anything but more things to do for a real-life table, and VTTs already seem to have what they need. The "O" in HLO is a waste of time and, frankly, I think it's a hindrance for reasons many have already pointed out in other threads.

I need a tool that will help me create characters and print character sheets (good ones, not the ones it's creating now) for use at the table. When my players create characters on their HLO, I want to bring them into my HLO account for (maybe) referring to them during the game from my iPad (something I could do with HL Classic) and checking them for accuracy.

I'm extremely disappointed and have already advised my players to create their characters using paper and pencil, since there's no way to export/import characters.

I think we'll stick to paper and pencil for the time being. Which is sad, because Hero Lab was a great tool for generating characters quickly. But, honestly, I'm growing tired of buying the same book twice - Hard Cover and Hero Lab content just to play a paper and pencil RPG.

I'll keep my eyes on Hero Lab, and hope it gets some sensible features that don't look like a player-driven (M)MORPG.

 

[Ualaa]

At this point the main advantage would be the Campaign Theater interacts with the digital form of the character (Hero Lab) natively as they're both products by the same developer.

The VTT has to either read the HLO URL of the character or has to import the character from the Lone Wolf version.
As either Lone Wolf or the VTT updates, that import (or read) of the Hero Lab may have issues.
Every time d20Pro (the VTT my group uses) has an update, it seems something isn't read correctly from the Hero Lab.
Currently, the VTT doesn't get movement or initiative bonus, so if I add a monster or NPC that I've made in Hero Lab, after doing the import I usually need to adjust those two values.

Having both as a first party software, the interaction would be seamless.
Down the road, the VTT-esque features of the Campaign Theater would grow, I'll assume.

 

[Jamz]

@Joe

Do you guys have plans to add a "Exploration Mode" to CT? Tactical mode is nice but I already have my VTT handle Initiative tracking and HP tracking for me. BUT, it is nice to have all my PC's in one view with their saves, hp, AC, weapon, etc and LIVE to!

So PF2 introduces Exploration Mode vs Encounter Mode (aka tactical, can we rename that to Encounter mode maybe?)

So when I'm not running "combat" I'd really love to see that view show me all their Perception, Lore skills, Arcane/Nature/Divine/Occultism, & Survival skill numbers + Proficiency. That would be invaluable. With the number of Secret rolls the GM has to make, I'd like to have all those numbers quickly available for me.

Investigate, Search, & Tracking are really the only things that typically trigger rolls for the above skills. And if the Players could set the "mode" they are in when not in combat and show that (icons FTW here) that would be a help. Throw in a "roll this thing for all party members" so I can get perception rolls for all players Searching or Lore skill rolls for all players Investigating, that would be a huge time saver for us GM!

Being able to see live updated numbers once "conditions" and other things are added is really neat! I liked seeing the weapon & AC change on the fighter when he changed weapons or raised his shield!